The all-seeing “eye” of the playful Tucan perched upon its fanciful wall plaque makes the Cubano wall light a nod to a quintessential tropical spirit. Made of matt white ceramic, this sconce continues designer Matteo Ugolini’s fascination with animals, which he has explored for the past several years in new releases by Karman. You’ll see several characters in his illuminated menagerie within Global Lighting’s Stratos Collection.

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Designer

Designer Matteo Ugolini was born in Pesaro, Italy in 1973, showing an affinity for drawing and painting since he was a young boy. This was a sign of things to come, as he has never lost his joy of experimentation with forms and materials. His university years were spent at CNIPA, the Centro Sperimentale Design Ancona. Upon graduation, he went straight to work collaborating with Studio Telemaco, developing furniture and accessories for a variety of design/architectural projects.

In 2008, Ugolini took over the reigns as art director of the Italian brand Karman, designing some of the company’s first lighting lines and setting the company’s branding on its current creatively avant-garde course. Ugolini designed some of Karman’s most popular products—the Déjà-Vu and Ali & Babà among them. The designer’s passionate goal is to cause emotion through lighting, and in keeping with the ironic point of view he espouses, he loves designing but feels no qualms in denouncing the need to be influenced by trends. He simply concentrates on creating products he loves.

Ugolini describes himself as deeply connected to nature, and hopes his designs will inspire a better understanding of all aspects of the natural environment. Along with his lighting creations on his website, the proud father has human ones front-and-center as well, his son Cesare and daughters Elena and Sofia grinning proudly from their candid snapshots. Global Lighting distributes Ugolini’s Via Rizzo 7 pendants, Pietro pendant, Sette Nani family of pendants, and Atelier pendant—which he designed for Karman—in the United States and Canada.